Mingwenhai 明文海

Mingwenhai 明文海 is an anthology of Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) prose and semi-prose writings compiled by the famous philosopher Huang Zongxi 黃宗羲 (1610-1695). Of the 482 juan listed in the contents, the last two are missing. The vast collection nonetheless includes about 4,300 texts written by nearly 1,000 persons. The writings are arranged according to 28 literary genres (and some sub-genres).

Huang had in mind to preserve important pieces of literature that might give information on politics, economy, culture, and military affairs of the Ming dynasty, whose commemoration was the focus of Huang’s thought. He decided to adhere to the paradigms of the anthologies Wenxuan 文選, Tangwencui 唐文粹, Songwenjian 宋文鑒 and Yuanwenlei 元文類, in order to endeavor a similar project for the Ming period. He relied exclusively on sources in this private library, and finalized in 1675, after seven years of work, a draft of 217 juan length called Mingwen'an 明文案. It included not just original texts, but also Huang’s comments and reviews, and is thus similar to Qian Qianyi’s 錢謙益 (1582-1664) Lichao shiji 列朝詩集.

The compilers of the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 revised this draft, simplified the categories and eliminated secondary text, with the argument that much of the draft was not Huang’s genuine work, but that of his son Huang Baijia 黃百家 (1643-1709). Apart from the Siku quanshu edition, only a few manuscripts were circulating, one owned by the Hanfen Library 涵芬樓, and one by the Zhejiang Library 浙江圖書館.

The anthology is important because it preserves texts not found in other collections, like Sang Yue’s 桑悅 (1447-1513) rhapsodies Beidu 北都 and Nandu 南都, or Zhu Yizun's 朱彝尊 (1629-1709) Rixia jiuwen 日下舊聞.